Divorce in the Netherlands: how the procedure works and what it costs

To end a marriage in the Netherlands, you need a court decision: a lawyer files a petition, the court grants the divorce and the decision is then registered with the municipality. You do not have to prove fault and you do not have to live apart first; the one exception to the court route is a registered partnership without minor children, which can be ended by agreement.

Around that core sit the arrangements that usually matter most: the children, the family home, the pension, maintenance and the division of property. Which rules apply depends on your nationality, your habitual residence, the date of the marriage and your matrimonial property regime. This guide covers the framework, the procedure from filing to registration, and the extra points for non-Dutch spouses.

On what ground can you divorce under Dutch law?

There is only one ground: the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage (duurzame ontwrichting). You do not have to show that your spouse is to blame.

Article 1:151 of the Dutch Civil Code describes this as a situation in which the marriage has broken down to such an extent that continuing to live together can no longer reasonably be expected. The Netherlands has a no-fault system. Adultery, financial mismanagement or a difficult character do not have to be established to obtain the divorce itself. Conduct during the marriage may still be relevant to the matters decided alongside it, such as maintenance, the arrangements for the children, the division of assets and questions of evidence.

In practice the threshold is low. If one spouse states that the marriage has broken down, the court rarely requires proof of a specific incident, so an unwilling spouse can seldom prevent the divorce. What a reluctant spouse can do is contest the consequences, which makes a divorce long and expensive rather than impossible.

Who can file for divorce in the Netherlands?

You can file here if a Dutch court has jurisdiction under European law, which usually follows from where you or your spouse live. Shared nationality can also be enough, even if neither of you lives in the Netherlands.

Jurisdiction is governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, known as Brussels II-ter, which replaced Brussels II-bis on 1 August 2022. Article 3 sets out alternative grounds. The Dutch courts have jurisdiction, among other situations, where:

• both spouses are habitually resident in the Netherlands;
• the spouses last lived here together and one of them still does;
• the respondent lives here;
• the petitioner has lived here for at least a year immediately before filing;
• a petitioner with Dutch nationality has lived here for at least six months immediately before filing; or
• both spouses have Dutch nationality.

The place where you married is not in itself a ground of jurisdiction. A marriage concluded abroad can perfectly well be dissolved by a Dutch court. Where no Member State has jurisdiction under the Regulation, the residual Dutch rules of procedure determine whether a Dutch court can hear the case.

Which law does the Dutch court apply to the divorce?

Jurisdiction and applicable law are separate questions. The Netherlands does not take part in the Rome III Regulation, so the law applicable to the divorce follows from Dutch private international law: Article 10:56 of the Dutch Civil Code.

Under Article 10:56, whether a divorce can be granted and on what grounds is, as a rule, decided by Dutch law. The court applies the law of a shared foreign nationality instead only if the spouses choose that law together in the proceedings, if one spouse chooses it and the other does not object, or if one spouse chooses it and both have a genuine social connection with that country. Such a choice must be express or otherwise sufficiently clear from the petition or the statement of defence. In most cases, a Dutch court will therefore apply Dutch divorce law to a couple living here, whatever their nationality.

The law applicable to matrimonial property, pensions and maintenance is determined by other instruments and may well be the law of another country. The outcome on the money can therefore differ from the outcome on the divorce itself. We set out the particular difficulties of a cross-border case in our article on international divorce in the Netherlands.

Should you file a joint or a unilateral petition?

If you and your spouse agree on everything, a joint petition is usually faster and cheaper. If you do not, one of you files alone and the court decides what remains in dispute.

In a joint petition, you reach agreement together, either through a single lawyer acting for both of you or through a divorce mediator. You then file one petition together with a signed settlement agreement. Mediation is a way of negotiating, not a substitute for the procedure: whatever you agree should be reviewed legally before you sign it, and the petition itself must always be filed by an advocaat. Because nothing is in dispute, there is usually no hearing and the court decides on the papers.

In a unilateral petition, one spouse files and the other is formally served. The respondent may accept the petition, in which case matters can still be settled quickly. Alternatively, the respondent files a statement of defence and, within the limits of the rules of procedure, puts forward counter-requests about maintenance, the children or the division of assets. The court will then schedule a hearing. If arrangements are needed while the proceedings run, you can ask for provisional measures on the use of the home, temporary maintenance and where the children will live.

How does the divorce procedure work, step by step?

The procedure runs from a first consultation, through the petition and (if needed) a hearing, to a court decision and registration with the municipality. The marriage ends only on registration.

Step 1: consultation and preparation

The first step is a meeting with a divorce lawyer, who assesses jurisdiction and applicable law and advises you on the route to take. Bring identification, the marriage certificate, the birth certificates of any children, recent income documents, an overview of assets and debts, and any prenuptial conditions. On that basis you can choose between a joint and a unilateral petition.

Step 2: filing the petition

The lawyer drafts the petition. In a joint procedure, the settlement agreement and the parenting plan are attached. The petition is filed with the district court for the place where the petitioner lives; the Netherlands has eleven district courts. The court fee (griffierecht) is set by the government and indexed every year, with a reduced rate for people on a low income.

Step 3: defence, children and hearing

In a unilateral case, the respondent is normally given six weeks to file a defence. Where there are minor children, the court examines the parenting plan and may involve the Child Care and Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming). A hearing follows if the court considers one necessary.

The courts invite children aged eight and over by letter to a conversation with the judge (kindgesprek). In maintenance cases, the invitation goes to children aged sixteen and over. Younger children may be heard at the court’s discretion. The court then issues its decision, dissolving the marriage and ruling on any consequences that remain in dispute.

Step 4: appeal period and registration

The decision does not yet end the marriage. Both spouses have three months to appeal. The divorce takes effect only once the decision has been entered in the register of marriages of the municipality. Article 1:163 of the Dutch Civil Code requires that registration within six months of the decision becoming final, not six months from the date it was given. If that period passes unused, the decision loses its force, and in practice the divorce would have to be applied for again.

Where both of you agree, you can sign a deed of acquiescence (akte van berusting) to waive the right of appeal. Registration can then follow almost immediately. The personal records database is updated as a result of the registration, but it is the entry in the marriage register that is decisive.

Which documents do you need?

Whichever route you take, the petition needs a fixed set of documents. Gather them early: a missing extract can hold up a file for weeks.

• An original extract from the marriage register, issued by the municipality where you married
• An extract from the personal records database (basisregistratie personen) for each of you
• Copies of the birth certificates of any children under 18
• An overview of assets, debts and pension entitlements built up during the marriage
• The prenuptial or partnership agreement, if you made one

What goes into the settlement agreement and the parenting plan?

The settlement agreement records the financial arrangements; the parenting plan records the arrangements for the children. Only the parenting plan is compulsory, and only when you have minor children under joint authority.

The settlement agreement (echtscheidingsconvenant) sets out how assets and debts are divided, whether spousal maintenance is paid, what happens to the house and the mortgage, and how pension rights are dealt with. Without one, the court decides the open points and you both remain exposed to disputes years later. Terms the court incorporates into its decision become enforceable like a court decision; terms outside it bind you as a contract.

Under Article 815 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Rv), the parenting plan sets out where each child will mainly live, how care and contact are divided, how you consult and inform one another, and how the costs of the children are met. A petition without a parenting plan must explain why agreement proved impossible. In practice, courts more often ask parents to complete the plan, or involve the Child Care and Protection Board, than declare the petition inadmissible.

Divorce does not in itself change parental authority: both parents keep joint authority, and sole authority is granted only in the limited cases set out in Article 1:251a of the Dutch Civil Code. Our guide to child custody laws in the Netherlands explains authority and residence in more detail.

What has to be settled financially?

You will need to divide your property, deal with pension rights and agree or ask the court to decide on maintenance. Which property regime applies depends mainly on when you married.

How is property divided?

For marriages entered into on or after 1 January 2018, a limited community of property applies. Assets and debts acquired during the marriage are shared, while pre-marital property, gifts and inheritances remain personal. Marriages concluded before that date fall under the old general community of property, in which almost everything is shared, unless prenuptial conditions were agreed before a civil-law notary.

Prenuptial conditions can also be made or amended during the marriage. Much then depends on whether any settlement clause in them was actually applied over the years. Where a periodic settlement clause was never carried out, the wealth built up may still have to be divided as though a community had existed. Businesses, shareholdings and debts each raise their own questions of valuation and allocation. For international couples, Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 determines the applicable matrimonial property law for marriages concluded on or after 29 January 2019 in the participating EU Member States. For earlier marriages, older conflict rules or a choice of law made at the time may govern the position.

What happens to pension rights?

Old-age pension built up during the marriage is in principle equalised: each spouse is entitled to half of what the other built up in that period. Pension accrued before the marriage falls outside this. The survivor’s pension is dealt with separately as a special partner’s pension. You may agree a different arrangement in your prenuptial conditions or settlement agreement.

If the pension administrator is notified within two years of the divorce, each of you can be paid your share directly by the fund. If that period is missed, the entitlement itself is not lost, but it has to be settled between the former spouses, which is considerably more cumbersome.

How long does spousal maintenance last?

Spousal maintenance may be claimed by the spouse without sufficient means of their own. For proceedings started on or after 1 January 2020, the standard duration is half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of five years.

The exceptions matter. Where the marriage lasted more than fifteen years and the recipient will reach state pension age within ten years, maintenance can run until that age. Where there are children under twelve, it can run until the youngest turns twelve. A transitional rule applies to recipients born on or before 1 January 1970 whose marriage lasted more than fifteen years. Which regime applies therefore depends on the filing date, the length of the marriage and the ages of the parties and the children. Spousal maintenance is deductible for the payer and taxed as income for the recipient.

How is child maintenance calculated?

Child maintenance is calculated using the guidelines of the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen, known as the Trema norms. These weigh the child’s needs against each parent’s capacity to pay and take into account the share of care each parent actually provides. The obligation runs until the child turns eighteen. It then continues as a duty to contribute to living and study costs until the age of twenty-one, owed directly to the young adult. Child maintenance is not deductible for the payer and not taxed for the recipient.

What happens to the family home and the mortgage?

A jointly owned home must either be sold or taken over by one of you, and a takeover requires the bank to release the other spouse from the mortgage. The court cannot force the bank to do so.

The family home often sets the pace of the whole divorce. The spouse who lives in the home can ask the court for the right to continue using it for six months after the divorce is registered. That is a temporary right of use and says nothing about ownership. Where the home is rented, one spouse can ask the court to allocate the tenancy.

Taking over an owned home depends on the mortgage lender agreeing to release the other spouse from joint and several liability. A court can rule on who may use the home and on how the property is divided, but the release remains the lender’s decision and turns largely on income. You will also need to settle who pays the mortgage interest while the proceedings run, what happens with any surplus or shortfall on the value of the home, and what the tax consequences of the chosen solution are.

How long does a divorce take and what does it cost?

An uncontested joint divorce is often completed within two to three months; a contested divorce commonly takes six months to a year. Costs rise with the number of points in dispute.

These are indications from practice, not statutory periods. A business valuation, cross-border assets, service abroad or a dispute over the children can take a case well beyond a year. We look at the timeline in more detail in how long a divorce takes.

A joint divorce through one lawyer involves a single fee and a single court fee. A contested case generates two sets of lawyer’s fees and, where valuations or expert reports are needed, further costs. The table gives indications, not quotations.

Court fees and bailiff tariffs change every year on 1 January, so check the rate that applies on the day you file.

What should foreigners and expats watch out for?

If one or both of you are not Dutch, check recognition of the divorce abroad, the documents from your country of marriage and the effect on a residence permit before you file. Moving abroad with the children requires the other parent’s consent or the court’s.

A divorce granted by a Dutch court is recognised in the other EU Member States without further formality under Brussels II-ter. Recognition outside the EU is governed by the law of the country concerned and may require a separate procedure there, plus an apostille or legalisation and a sworn translation. A foreign divorce can in turn be recognised in the Netherlands if the foreign court had jurisdiction on grounds Dutch law accepts and the procedure was fair.

Divorce may also affect a residence permit granted to live with a partner. The IND looks at the type of permit, the length of lawful residence and the circumstances; an independent permit may be available, and separate rules apply after domestic violence. Have this checked before the petition is filed.

A parent who wants to move abroad with the children needs the consent of the other holder of parental authority, or substitute consent from the court. Taking a child across a border without it can amount to international child abduction under the Hague Child Abduction Convention, which leads to an urgent return procedure.

Are there alternatives to a contested divorce?

Yes. Mediation and collaborative divorce help you reach agreement and then file jointly. Separation from bed and board (scheiding van tafel en bed) ends living together without dissolving the marriage.

A mediator facilitates the negotiation but does not advise either of you on your rights, so have the outcome legally reviewed before you sign. In collaborative divorce each spouse has a separate lawyer throughout. Separation from bed and board also needs a court decision and a lawyer, and suits couples who do not want to dissolve the marriage for religious or financial reasons.

How do you end a registered partnership?

If you have no children under 18 and agree on everything, you can end a registered partnership without a court, through a lawyer or a civil-law notary. Otherwise the procedure runs through the court, like a divorce.

Without a court, both partners sign a written agreement, which a lawyer or civil-law notary also signs and then has registered with the municipality. Where there are minor children, or where the partners cannot agree, the court route applies. For maintenance, property division and pension equalisation, registered partners are treated in the same way as spouses.

What should you check as the spouse who files?

As petitioner you set the timetable, so prepare the file before your lawyer files with the district court. Check:

• Whether a Dutch court has jurisdiction under Article 3 of Brussels II-ter, for example because you have lived here for at least a year.
• Whether you have an extract from the marriage register and BRP extracts for both of you.
• Which property regime applies: limited community for marriages from 1 January 2018, general community before that, or prenuptial conditions.
• Whether you have a parenting plan, or can explain why agreement on it proved impossible.
• Whether you need provisional measures on the home, maintenance or the children while the case runs.

What should you check as the spouse who receives the petition?

As respondent you usually have six weeks to file a statement of defence, and only an advocaat can file it for you. Check:

• The deadline in the notice served by the bailiff, and when your lawyer must file the defence.
• Whether you want to make counter-requests on maintenance, the children or the division of assets.
• Whether the income figures and asset overview in the petition are complete and correct.
• Whether your residence permit depends on the marriage, and what the IND requires for an independent permit.
• Whether you want to sign a deed of acquiescence, which ends the three-month appeal period.

What can we do for you with your divorce?

Our divorce lawyers act for one spouse in a contested case or for both spouses in a joint petition. In practice we:

• Assess jurisdiction and applicable law in your first consultation, including in cross-border cases.
• Draft the settlement agreement and the parenting plan, or review an agreement made through a mediator.
• Calculate spousal and child maintenance using the Trema norms of the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen.
• Draft and file the petition or the statement of defence within the six-week deadline.
• Request provisional measures on the home, maintenance and the children while the case runs.
• Arrange registration in the marriage register within the six-month period of Article 1:163 of the Dutch Civil Code.

Summary

• A Dutch divorce requires a petition filed by an advocaat and a court decision; the only ground is irretrievable breakdown, without proof of fault.
• Dutch courts have jurisdiction under Brussels II-ter, usually based on habitual residence; the law applicable to the divorce itself follows from Article 10:56 of the Dutch Civil Code and is, as a rule, Dutch law.
• The marriage ends only when the decision is registered, which must happen within six months of it becoming final (Article 1:163 of the Dutch Civil Code).
• The financial consequences depend on the property regime (limited community from 1 January 2018), pension equalisation and the statutory maintenance rules.
• With minor children, a parenting plan is compulsory; moving abroad with a child requires the other parent’s or the court’s consent.

Frequently asked questions